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Shoulder charges can be one of the most spectacular aspects of rugby league but they can also go spectacularly wrong.
Sonny Bill Williams has built much of his reputation on shoulder charges and Willie Mason certainly knew who was the boss when he ran into David Kidwell but the number of illegal or dangerous hits is high.
Just last weekend, players were sent off, scuffles broke out, Braith Anasta had his nose broken and Brett Hodgson was left groggy after Ashley Graham's shoulder charge collected his bonce.
Cronulla prop Ben Ross received a seven-week suspension for his late hit on Cooper Cronk, Brett White picked up a three-week break for decking Ross soon after, while Graham will miss one game for his troubles. Karmichael Hunt escaped suspension for his tackle on Anasta.
These all came on the back of Riley Brown's deplorable "tackle" into the back of Craig Wing the previous weekend that put Wing out of action for three months.
While NRL lawmakers are looking closely at the so-call "prowler tackle" put on Wing and are looking at a law change that would outlaw the use of any form of shoulder charge where there is more than one player involved in a tackle, they have no plans to review the shoulder charge itself.
Warriors skipper Steve Price agrees and wants to see it remain part of the game but also wants the judiciary to come down hard on those who get it wrong.
"I don't want the rule to come in like rugby union," he said. "I think that would be a negative way to go - that's not bagging rugby union.
"I don't want it eradicated but I do want it dealt with like any other tackle. If you come in contact with the head or neck area, whether accidental or not, it should be dealt with in the same way as a swinging arm or elbow. You don't like seeing things like on the weekend and I hope the judiciary set a standard of what's acceptable.
"What isn't in the spirit of the game was what Ben Ross did. There was no other intention but to sit him [Cronk] on his arse. He arrived five minutes after the kick. For him to say there was no malice, it doesn't matter, you hit him in the head with your elbow and that's what we're trying to get out of the game."
North Queensland halfback Johnathan Thurston agreed last week that officials risked turning the sport into "touch footy" by getting rid of shoulder charges.
"If the National Rugby League bans shoulder charges, then I may as well escort fans from games myself, because that is exactly what will happen - our great game will lose supporters," he wrote in the Townsville Bulletin newspaper.
For as much as the shoulder charge looks spectacular and fans bay for more when it's done well, Price says it's a tactic that holds a lot of risk not only for the ball carrier.#"The shoulder charge is a risk both ways. They don't always come off. Even the ones that look spectacular, like Sonny Bill pulls off, he doesn't always get a dominant tackle.
"It looks great and probably winds a guy or sends fear through the opposition but most of the time they get quick play-the-balls and you're on the back foot worse than if you'd made a conventional tackle. There are a fair few coaches who don't encourage it because of that."
